Torn Time and Shredded Space
by TopazTheDragon
Summary: After the disappearance of Team Galactic's leader, the son of two Galactic commanders is in training to be the next boss, or another commander in case the old boss shows up. When he comes face to face with the one responsible for the team's downfall, who knows what will happen... Rating is an estimate, dunno if it will actually be T material. R&R!
1. Prologue

PROLOGUE

The wind howled, and large flurries of snow zoomed past the window. A man with messy blue hair turned his attention to the storm outside, shivering. The weather tonight reminded him of that fateful day four years ago...

"This storm, caused by a cold front coming down from Mt. Coronet, is expected to last until tomorrow night." The TV was tuned to the weather channel. "Residents are advised to -" And then the TV lost its signal.

Grumbling, the man got up and pushed the TV's power button. He had heard enough, so when the signal came back, the TV didn't need to be on anyway. He made his way to the kitchen, where a small boy was holding open the refrigerator. A frog pokemon sat on the boy's shoulder.

"Go to bed, Mercury." The man addressed his son in a stern tone. "It's too late for a snack."

Mercury turned. His hair was blue and messy, just like Saturn, his father. He had inherited his piercing red eyes from his mother, Mars. He was wearing white pajamas with yellow polka dots and black fuzzy slippers. His pokemon, a croagunk named Cragg, inflated his cheek pouches and ribbited. "I can't sleep." Mercury rubbed his eyes. "Cragg can't too."

Saturn's gaze softened. He walked over and patted Mercury's head, then closed the refrigerator. "The wind is quite loud..."

"It's not that. I heard Mommy saying something about a monster pokemon. I think she said it was called a cyrus...and it comes out when it snows like this. Daddy, are we safe? Will it come eat us?"

Saturn almost gulped. He had known his son would find out about that eventually, but he figured it would be one of those blabbermouth Galactic grunts. Not a commander, and certainly not him or his wife. He was pretty sure Mercury was conceived a month before what Team Galactic now called Frozen Doomsday, the day their leader, Cyrus, was sucked into the vortex created by the legendary pokemon Giratina and was never seen again. Mercury reminded Saturn and Mars of their old boss at times, when he was angry, he had that Cyrus-y death glare...neither had really given the theory of reincarnation much thought, but they couldn't help wondering: was the Galactic Boss killed by Giratina and now living a new life? Was their son their old boss?

The idea made Saturn's head hurt. He knew the boss wouldn't give up so easily, he might be still out there somewhere. But now wasn't the time to think about that. The boy had heard something that confused and frightened him, it was time for him to hear the story of Frozen Doomsday. "Come on." He began leading Mercury back to his room. "I'll explain everything."

And tomorrow morning he would tell Mars she needed to keep her mouth shut.


	2. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

"There you are, Merc!" A teenage boy ran up and tapped his friend on the shoulder. "Did you hear? Team Rocket is-"

"Selling Kanto and Johto pokemon. Old news. Heard it this morning." Mercury rolled his eyes. Connor was his close friend, but since his parents were grunts, not commanders, there was often a big information gap between the two of them. Mercury, who preferred to be called Merc now, would hear things long before Connor. And when Connor did hear it, he would assume Merc hadn't yet.

Connor made a disappointed face. "Oh. Right... Well, what are you getting? I think I'll get a pidgey!"

"You know pidgeys are WAY common, right?"

"Yeah, but you can't catch them in Sinnoh. And how awesome would it be to fly on a pidgeot?"

Merc shrugged. "You can do the same with staraptors. But I can kinda see your point. As for me, I'm thinking a meowth."

"That cat pokemon that throws gold coins?" Connor huffed. "Aren't your parents rich enough?"

Merc shook his head. "That's not the reason. You know the Rocket boss? He has one. Well, he technically has an evolved one...anyway, persians kick butt. They're fast, sneaky, and their claws can tear just about anything to shreds. They're way cooler than my mom's fat lazy purugly."

Team Galactic had made its base in a rural area on the outskirts of Veilstone. So far, people hadn't suspected a thing. They thought the team had disbanded after a young trainer repeatedly ruined their plans. Team Rocket had gone through the same situation and was lending a hand to the Galactics, keeping an eye out for Cyrus. The Rocket leader, Giovanni, had been interested in the chilling story of Cyrus' disappearance. He was sending the Kanto and Johto pokemon as a sign of the two teams' newfound friendship.

"They're here." Commander Mars walked up to the two boys. "Merc, come with me. Connor, get in line with the other grunts."

Merc waved to his friend as he followed his mother to the front of the line. He felt sorry for Connor, always having to get the last scraps of everything. Hopefully one day he would be promoted and get a space name. It was a good thing his choice was a pidgey, considering all the rarer pokemon would likely be gone by that time.

Mars got a drowzee, Jupiter got an oddish, and Saturn got a hoothoot. The woman who was handling the sales looked at Merc and smiled. "You must be the young one I've been hearing about. Earned yourself your rank just by being born...I say, that's the way to do it!"

"Just give him his pokemon already!" Charon growled from behind Merc, still angry about being the last of the commanders in line because of his old age.

"Patience, you old coot." The Rocket woman shot a glare at Charon before turning back to Merc. "Now then...do you know what you'd like? A houndour? Or maybe an ekans?"

"A meowth."

The woman nodded. "We just happen to have one of those. He's ten thousand dollars."

Merc's eyes widened. "Ten thousand? Why?"

"A few reasons, dear." The woman chuckled warmly. "The main reason is his lineage. His mother is Master Giovanni's persian. Also, meowths can use pay day, and that produces gold. Surely you can see that it wouldn't be wise to let him go for cheap?"

"I only brought five hundred..."

"Hah!" Charon ran forward and smacked a stack of money on the table. "Foolish child...I will take that meowth, ma'am."

The woman counted the money, then shrugged. "Well, money talks." She gestured to the man behind her. "Richie, meowth." The man named Richie brought forward the kennel with the meowth in it and gave it to Charon, who shot Merc an "I won, you lost" look and carried the kennel away.

"The ekanses and koffings cost three hundred." The saleswoman pointed toward the stack of kennels. "If you're willing to spend all your money, the mareeps are five hundred. So are the houndours. The grimers are four hundred. Take your pick."

Merc wasn't looking at any of those options. His attention was on a small kennel at the bottom of the stack. Inside, a rodent pokemon with copper colored eyes was gnawing on the metal barred door. The rattata's whiskers were short, signifying that it was a female. She was the same shade of purple as all rattatas, but her belly and paws were a sleek copper like her eyes.

He had never seen a rattata before, so he assumed they would be dopey like the bidoofs of Sinnoh. But this one had a glimmer of intelligence and fierceness in her eyes. He liked her.

"How much for the rattatas?"

The saleswoman looked surprised. "Rattatas? One hundred...but don't you want something a little more..."

Merc handed her a hundred dollar bill. "No. I want that rattata. The one with the copper brown eyes and paws."

They gave him the rattata, and he thanked them, then exited the line. He immediately sat down and opened the kennel door, making sure he was positioned to block and catch the rattata in case she decided to make a run for it. She just sat there and stared at him.

He cautiously stuck his arm into the kennel, and the rattata sniffed his hand, then started nibbling one of his fingers. Merc smiled. "I'm not food, but I can get you some if you accept me as your trainer." He held up the empty pokeball he had brought, then threw it at the rattata.

The pokeball rocked once, then clicked. Merc picked it up out of the kennel and heard footsteps behind him. He turned around and stood up and saw that it was his parents. To his surprise, they didn't look disappointed.

"I have to admit, you surprised me." Saturn said. "But I hear raticates can be pretty good fighters. Maybe not as strong as persians, but just as fast."

Merc grinned. "Thanks, Dad. Noctowls are cool too."

Mars had her new drowzee out. "You two are getting ahead of yourselves. They're not evolved yet." The drowzee seemed to nod in agreement. Mars smiled and patted his head. "I knew you'd be a smart one. Good boy, Newton."

"Good name. What'd you name your hoothoot, Dad?"

"I named her Gale. How about you? What's your rattata's name?"

Merc scratched his head. "I don't know yet. She has copper colored eyes and markings, but Copper sounds more like a name for a male..."

"Why not Sorrel?" Mars suggested. "It's a word for a brownish color, and it sounds more feminine."

"Sorrel it is. Thanks!" Merc got up and started toward the base. "When Connor's done, tell him to meet me in here so we can try out our new team members."


	3. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

The dojo was perfect today. Not too crowded, yet not too empty. There was a grand total of five Galactic trainers and their pokemon, all working up a sweat. Four were grunts, including Connor. He was having his pidgey fly and attack foam disks shot from a launcher.

One was the youngest commander. Merc had two training dummies set up to simulate a double battle. Cragg the toxicroak darted around like a ninja, occasionally stopping to throw a punch or kick. Sorrel the rattata was adjusting well. Her quick attacks were being executed flawlessly, every one of them made contact with the dummy.

A buzzer sounded, then Commander Jupiter's voice came over the intercom. "It's two o'clock. Time for the weekly state of the team address. All cadets and commanders, please report to the conference room."

Roll call revealed that one cadet was missing. Jupiter clenched her hand into a fist. "This is the second time in a row he hasn't showed up!"

"Then strip him of his rank!" Charon suggested. "Young ones these days...no respect for authority!"

"We will if it happens again." Mars replied, shaking her head. "We all know he had a rough childhood. I know that's not an excuse, but...we have to follow the three strikes and you're out rule."

Merc raised his hand. "I saw him leave the base awhile back. I think he was headed toward Veilstone."

"Are you volunteering to go retrieve him, then? A fetch mission is perfect for a trainee like you!" Charon snickered.

"Charon, that was rude." Saturn glared. "But I do agree that someone needs to go get him."

"I'll do it..." Merc groaned.

* * *

"Puff puff!" A round pink pokemon ran after a girl in a halter top and skirt. The girl had green hair, and was in her early teens. And she was walking away from the carnival, and the show was going to start soon, and she was supposed to be in it.

The girl stopped and turned. "Sunny! I completely forgot about you...I'm such a dunce!"

Sunny inflated herself to the size of a large pumpkin, as jigglypuffs will do when they're feeling angry or threatened. "Jig jig jiggly!" She pointed in the direction she came from.

"I know, but this is a crisis! I saw a Team Rocket truck! We have to go investigate! They're nothing but trouble, you know." The girl and her jigglypuff were part of a traveling performing troupe. They were originally from Johto, where Team Rocket ran rampant. Bangs and her parents, who ran the troupe, had ran into the Rockets a few times, and they were never peaceful encounters. Once her father got mugged for not buying a slowpoketail. Another time they were robbed of all the cash they had just for going through a gate house.

"Jig. Puff." Sunny shivered, deflating to her normal size. Bangs picked her up and hugged her. "We won't be gone long. Once we find out what they're here for, we'll be back in time for our act. We'll just sneak up and spy on them, they won't even notice us."

Sunny sat on her trainer's shoulder as she walked farther and farther away from where they were supposed to be. The jigglypuff had a bad feeling about this, but she really had no choice in the matter. She just hoped - was that a sweet poffin sitting on that stack of boxes?

Before Bangs could pull her back, Sunny was in a cage. The poffin was there as bait, and she had triggered the trap by lunging toward it. Bangs gasped in alarm and started pounding on the trap.

A snicker sounded, and a tall dark haired man stepped forward. He scowled when he saw what was in the cage. "Just a stupid jigglypuff and a little ballerina girl. Disappointing."

The man wasn't wearing a Rocket uniform, but Bangs knew that if he was trapping pokemon, he couldn't be anything else. "Let her go! Or I'll call the police!"

"And then I suppose I'll go to jail. Where my father is...wouldn't that be a nice reunion?" His voice oozed with sarcasm.

"DRAKE!" A teenage boy, who looked about two or three years older than Bangs, ran up from behind the tall man. "I'm supposed to tell you if you miss one more meeting-" Then he noticed the scene in front of him. "What are you DOING? Why is that jigglypuff in a cage?"

"If we want to make a comeback, we'll need more pokemon." Drake's voice was lowered to almost a whisper. "Ones that are fiercer than jigglypuffs though. We'll just have to dispose of it."

"I won't allow you to do such a thing!" Merc growled. "You better stop this nonsense right now, or else!"

"Or else what?" Drake laughed. "But, I admire your courage. How about a little challenge?" He reached for a pokeball. "If you win, I'll go back and leave these miserable fools alone. If I win...the jigglypuff dies."

Bangs watched as the two young men began a pokemon battle, confused. If they were both Team Rocket, then why was the one closer to her age appearing to be on her side? She supposed it was a good thing he was...but it was still confusing.

"Punishment, use flamethrower!" Drake called to his houndoom. The houndoom barked and released a stream of fire from her muzzle. Merc's toxicroak attempted to roll out of the way, but was hit by the flames.

Cragg ribbited angrily as he waited for a command. "Use revenge!" The toxicroak nodded, then tackled Punishment to the ground.

Drake swore under his breath and returned his fainted houndoom to her pokeball. He then brought out a carnivorous dinosaur pokemon. "Get him, Wrath! Use dragon tail!" The tyrunt slammed Cragg with his tail, knocking him back.

Merc wondered when Drake had gotten a Kalos pokemon. But there was no time to ask. "It's okay, Cragg!" He called as his toxicroak staggered to his feet. "Use revenge again!"

"Dodge it and use rock slide!"

A pile of boulders landed on Cragg, fainting him. Merc bit his lip. He couldn't give up, but he knew it wouldn't be easy. All he had left was Sorrel, and she didn't know any moves that were good against rock types.

Drake broke into a sinister grin when he saw the rattata. "Use rock slide again!"

"Quick attack, Sorrel! And dodge the rocks!"

The rocks collided with the ground, sending up a cloud of dust. Sorrel made taunting chattering noises as she slammed into the larger pokemon with all her might.

"Use bite, Wrath!"

The tyrunt chomped down with his sharp fangs. Sorrel's tail was caught in Wrath's jaws, and as she struggled to free herself, a bright light flashed from the cage that Sunny the jigglypuff was in. It hit Wrath like a laser beam, and the tyrunt fell over with his face in the dirt, releasing Sorrel from his jaws.

"Fine, you win!" Drake roared and returned Wrath to his pokeball. "Just my luck, the stupid thing knows a fairy move! I HATE FAIRY TYPES!"

Sorrel puffed out her chest. "Ra tat!" She spat and lashed her tail violently as Drake stomped away.

"Um, thanks." Bangs said as Merc looked for a way to release the trap. "Sunny owes her life to you."

The trap door opened. Sunny jumped into Janice's arms, and Merc smiled awkwardly. "Hey, I was having trouble there...I didn't know fairy beat rock."

"Fairy beats dragon." Bangs smiled. "I've been around the world enough to know that tyrunts are rock and dragon type. I used a dazzling gleam TM on Sunny. Glad I did."

"Really..."

Bangs nodded. "Really. Thanks again. I'm Janice, but you can call me Bangs. You?"

Merc blinked. "You're welcome. The name's Merc."

"Is that short for Mercurtio or something?"

"Not quite..."

"What do you mean, not quite?" Bangs asked, then noticed the time on a nearby marquee and gasped. "I'm going to be late!"

Merc watched her leave. That almost got...bad. If she found out he was part of Team Galactic...that wouldn't be good. But now, he wondered how the rest of the commanders would react to Drake's little stunt. He left the town and started on his way back.


End file.
